South African Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, icon of the fight against apartheid and Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1984, died this Sunday at the age of 90, announced the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa.
The legacy of a liberated Africa
In a statement, the Head of State expresses “on behalf of all South Africans, his deep sadness following the death, this Sunday” of this essential figure in South African history. Desmond Tutu is one of the last surviving representatives of the struggle against apartheid. “The death of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is a new chapter of mourning in our nation’s farewell to a generation of exceptional South Africans who left us a liberated South Africa,” added the President.
“The Arch”
Nicknamed “The Arch” by South Africans, Desmond Tutu had been weakened for several months. He no longer spoke in public but always greeted the cameras present at each of his trips, with a smile or mischievous look, as during his vaccine against the Covid in a hospital or during the office in Cape Town to celebrate his 90 years in October.
Desmond Tutu gained notoriety during the worst hours of the racist apartheid regime. While a priest, he organized peaceful marches against segregation and pleaded for international sanctions against the white regime in Pretoria. Only her dress will save her from prison. His nonviolent fight was crowned with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.
Father of the Rainbow Nation
With the advent of democracy in 1994 and the election of his friend Nelson Mandela, the one who gave South Africa the nickname “Rainbow Nation” chairs the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) which , he hopes, must allow the country to turn the page on racial hatred. “I walk on clouds. It’s an incredible feeling, like falling in love,” he says. “We South Africans are going to become the rainbow people of the world.”
His hopes were quickly dashed. The black majority has acquired the right to vote, but remains largely poor. Faithful to his commitments, the “priest” of Cape Town then becomes the slayer of the excesses of the ANC government, starting with the mistakes of former President Thabo Mbeki in the fight against AIDS.
In 2013, he even promised never to vote for the party that triumphed over apartheid again. “I did not fight to drive out people who thought they were junk gods and replace them with others who think they are too,” says Tutu.